This page will follow the same format as 296,each rally or show that it attends will be reported on this page.

On June 15th Dave loaned 854 to his friend Alan Smith for use at a family wedding, the following photo's are of the bus and not a wedding album.

The bus had been cleaned for the wedding.

Alan Smith at the wheel.

Dosn't it look pretty!

It looks as if Daves doing a runner, well it is a wedding!

Say it with flowers Dave and you might get a drink.

Thats Nathan Alans grandson acting as the conductor for the day.

Published on July 23rd 2013.

Dave has asked me to announce on this page that he has sold his Royal Blue to Eddie Rayner of Manchester. As part of the sale I gave the bus a fresh coat of paint before sending it to its new home, see photos below.

Thats a photo of me taking a photo of the finished gloss.

This is the final display at the Pheonix rally of 1433, this was held at Ruddington.

This is Eddie Rayner at the wheel of 1433 prior to its departure to its new home in Manchester.

Going, Going!

So as Dave says goodbye to the Royal Blue he says Hello to his new bus Bartons Bedford VAL with Yeates Europa body dating from 1963 reg no 966 RVO fleet no 966.The bus was purchased from Fowlers and is in excellent condition all it requires is a repaint and a few minor jobs.I will start and paint the bus very soon.

Dave and the bus at Fowlers depot.

966 at its new home at Ruddington.

It looks good.

Updated on August 14th 2013.

The following pics are showing that I have started to paint 966, and at the same time I am trying to start and paint 296.

The roof is undercoated with grey ready to receive a coat of Barton Maroon and the lower panels are undercoated with red prior to finishing with Barton red.

I have gave the front end a coat of finishing paint so it will look well as dave is taking the bus to Bartons open day on September 14th.

Updated on September 6th 2013.

Thats the roof finished.

A first coat of undercoat has been applied to the front.

Updated on October 2nd 2013.

The previous cream has now gone to make way for Barton Red.

Beginning to look like a Barton Bus.

Updated on 25th October 2013.

A few problems occurred with the fibre glass corner panels on both the front and rear of the bus, this I put down to the etch primer used on previous paint jobs, (I don't use etch primer) so I have had to repaint them.

That looks better!

Updated on November 14th 2013.

Whilst Dave was doing a routine maintenance check on the brakes of 966 he came across a very big problem, as you can see an the above photo the rim an top of the rear brake drum is severely damaged and beyond repair, and as new ones are unavailable a replacement one has to be sourced but these are very rare. If anyone who is reading this knows the whereabouts of one would you please contact me via the contact Lynn page and I am sure Dave will be over the moon with it.

Thats how the rim should look. Certain Bedford T.K rims will fit as will Bedford J2s.

Updated on November 19th 2013.

After making numerous enquires about the possibilities of getting a replacement brake drum we had to admit defeat and put plan B into operation, this was to locate the back axle and drums for a Bedford Val 70 . Dave had sought advice on this plan and came to the conclusion that it would fit onto a Val 14, then came the task of finding one and, eureka! he located one in Cannock Chase.On the 12th Jan 2014 Seven of us set off to Cannock all eager to bring it back, but it was and still is very heavy and without the proper lifting gear it was a struggle, but after a lot of hugging tugging and swearing we managed to get it on the trailer and transport it back to base.

The following pictures show the beast being loaded on the trailer. (Ive not shown any faces during that operation as it was not a pretty site).

Back at home base hanging off the proper equipment (And it wanted hanging!).

Updated on January 14th 2014.

When Dave got the axle into the workshop it was found that the pinion was kaput, giving Dave a nervous breakdown, but he was advised by en expert on Val 14s and 70s that the crown and pinion were the same in each back axle.

With the number of broken teeth on the pinion it would be better to send it to a dentist than a fitter!

Thats the back axle off 966 ready to be stripped down.

Meanwhile with all the engineering going on with 966 the weather was holding up further painting, but on Sunday February 16th 2014 a miracle happend the sun came out and it was dry and fairly warm I managed to do some painting, a further coat of gloss was applied.

Updated on 18th February 2014.

After all the wet weather over the past few months the back axle has been put in place and it works, so now I will be able to continue painting the bus.